Introduction To The Mayor of Casterbridge (1886)
Today we'll be talking about another famous novel by Victorian novelist Thomas Hardy called Mayor of the Casterbridge. Friends, Mayor of the Casterbridge is an 1886 novel by Hardy. It is subtitled as The Life and Death of a Man of Character. This work is set in a fictional rural England where Casterbridge reassembled Dorchester in Dorset, a place where Hardy spent his youth. Now, though the novel is considered to be one of Hardy's masterpieces, it has been criticized for incorporating too many incidents.
Important Characters
(1) Michael Henchard (Protagonist)
(2) Susan (Michael's Wife)
(3) Elizabeth Jane (Michael's Daughter)
(4) Richard Newson (Sailor)
(5) Donald Farfrae (Graduate in Agriculture)
(6) Lucetta Temleman (Involved with Michael)
(7) Jopp (Hired by Michael)
(8) Abel Whittle (Work in Michael's hay-yard)
Now, we'll talk about the characters and then we'll talk about the story in detail. Now, we have a 21-year-old lad named Michael Henchard who will be the protagonist for this work. We have his wife Susan and daughter Elizabeth Jane. Next, we have Richard Newson, a sailor who will bring the main twist in this work. Watch out for him when he makes the entry. And next, we have Donald Farfrae, a man of knowledge who helps Michael in his business of agriculture. And how and when, we'll get to know soon. Then we have Lucetta Temleman, a woman who gets involved with Michael, but when, why and how, we will see soon. Lastly, we have Jopp, a man hired by Michael for his greenery business. So, these are the characters that you should know. Now, let's begin with the story.
Section 1: The Drink that costed Michael
It all begins in September 1820 when a 21-year-old Michael Henchard, the head of his family, arrives at a country fair near Casterbridge in Wessex. He comes here with his wife Susan and daughter Elizabeth Jane. On their way there, they stumbled upon a place called the Firmity Tent, where they decided to stop and grab some food. However, things took a turn when Michael got a little too carried away with the alcohol being served by one of the women there. Now, he ended up getting drunk and started to misbehave. And after getting drunk and misbehaving, Michael started openly discussing his personal life and unhappiness for everyone to hear. He even went as far as to publicly shame his wife Susan, which led to her getting angry. Under the influence of alcohol, Michael ended up auctioning his wife and their baby daughter to a passing sailor named Richard Newson. Can you believe that? He bought both Susan and Elizabeth for just five guineas. The next day, when Michael woke up, he was incredibly embarrassed by his actions for the night before. But he was even more angry that he had gotten drunk and allowed his wife to leave with another man. Now, Michael, he was feeling super guilty about his behavior, and he tried everything to find his wife and daughter, but all in vain. Eventually, he made a promise to himself that he wouldn't touch a drop of alcohol again for the next 21 years. After that, he moved to a place called Castlebridge in the south and settled down there. But get this, after 18 years, Susan actually came back to the same place where her husband sold her. Unfortunately, their daughter Elizabeth had no idea about her family's past and actually believed that the sailor who took Susan away was her father and that he died at sea. It was definitely a very heartbreaking situation.
Section 2: The Mayor of Casterbridge
So, you all must be confused as to why did Susan return now? Here's why. After Newson's death, Susan had no means to survive and nowhere to seek help from. Hence, both Susan and Elizabeth, they came looking for Michael. Now, Susan actually went back to that same Firmity Tent where Michael got drunk that fateful night. The old woman who served him remembers Susan and tells her that Michael is now in Casterbridge. So, both mother and daughter head over to Castlebridge and find a crowd gathered in front of the Golden Crown Hotel. Turns out, they're all here to meet Michael, who is now the Mayor of the city and a very successful grain merchant. Can you believe it? Despite his past struggles with alcoholism, he made it to such an esteemed position. Susan is very happy to see that her husband has come so far in life. So, after arriving in Casterbridge, Susan and Elizabeth decide to stay the night. While they are there, they overhear people talking to Michael about how the crop isn't doing so well this year. This is a big concern for Michael who is worried about losing money due to the bad wheat crop. This is where a new character enters the story named Donald Farfrae. He is actually a graduate in agriculture and offers to help Michael come up with a plan to save his crops and money. And the next day, Michael convinces Donald to stay in Casterbridge and becomes his manager for the wheat and other crops. Donald agrees. All this while, Susan sends a note to Michael asking him to meet. After receiving the note, Michael and Susan decide to get married again. Unfortunately, it's not that simple. Michael can't just marry Susan right away because he got involved with another woman named Lucetta Temleman after auctioning off his wife. Turns out, Lucetta faced a lot of scrutiny in her community because of their relationship. This means that Michael would face many problems if he tried to get married again.
Section 3: The Truth Comes to Light
Now, while all this is happening with Michael and Susan, there's something else going on between Donald Farfrae and Elizabeth. They are actually getting pretty close. But Michael isn't happy about it at all. He does his best to keep them apart, probably because he's worried about losing control over his workers. It seems like Donald has gained more influence with the workers than Michael and that's really getting under his skin. So, Donald has actually started his own business, which makes Michael even more angry. And unfortunately, after all this drama, Susan passes away. But this event leads to something even more surprising. After Susan's death, Michael decides that it is finally time that Elizabeth should know the truth that he is actually her father and what all happened in the past. However, just when he thinks he's uncovered all of the secrets, he gets his hand on a letter that Susan had left behind for him. And this is not just any letter. It's one that he's not supposed to open until Elizabeth's wedding day. But when he reads it, he's completely shocked by what he discovers. The letter reveals that Elizabeth isn't actually his biological daughter at all. It turns out that she's the daughter of sailor Richard Newson and that Susan's first daughter, who she took with her that night, actually died. So now Elizabeth thinks Michael is her father. But Michael now knows the entire truth. Even his behavior towards Elizabeth becomes worse. He used to scold her without any reason. Elizabeth got irritated and went to her mother's tomb. There she meets Lucetta. After listening to her story, Lucetta becomes sympathetic towards Elizabeth. Lucetta had only come to Casterbridge because she had come to know that Susan had died and hence, she wanted to marry Michael. She invited Elizabeth to her home to bring Michael and Elizabeth close. But do you think it will be this simple without a twist? Now hear me out very carefully. Elizabeth is staying at Lucetta's home and Farfrae visits them often. Lucetta starts to develop feelings for Farfrae and begins to forget about Michael. Meanwhile, Michael is aware of the growing chemistry between Lucetta and Farfrae and he starts to consider marrying Lucetta. However, Lucetta doesn't want to be with Michael and is trying to distance herself from him.
Section 4: Everything goes South for Michael
Now, Michael hires a guy named Jopp who used to work for Farfrae. Michael and Jopp bought crops in bulk because an astrologer told Michael that rain would not be good and the crops would not be good too. So, they bought in bulk to earn profits. However, the opposite happened and the climate turned out to be good, resulting in Michael incurring heavy losses. As a result, Michael puts all the blame on Jopp. So, guys, things are not looking good for Michael at this point. He is feeling extremely frustrated with his life. He goes to Lucetta and threatens to expose all the letters she wrote to him if she doesn't agree to marry him. It seems like he is hit rock bottom. And to add to this, the fumity woman comes to Casterbridge and recognizes Michael as the guy who sold his wife and daughter. This revelation could completely shatter whatever little dignity he has left. His business was already in loss. Lucetta had married Farfrae, which made things worse for Michael. Elizabeth is also shocked by Farfrae's betrayal. Michael behavior toward his daughter changes at this point. He treats her like his own. However, the vow he took off not consuming alcohol for 21 years finally comes to an end and he ends up getting drunk. So, the story continues and gets more complicated. After the letters that Lucetta wrote to Michael came to light, she lost her reputation and sadly passed away after suffering a miscarriage.
Section 5: I wish to be Forgotten
In the meantime, Richard Newson, the sailor who was believed to be dead, showed up in town and he asked Michael to give him his daughter back. But Michael lied to him saying that his daughter had died. However, eventually Richard Newson discovers that he has been lied too and he returns but finds that Michael had already left without telling anyone where he was going. On the day of Elizabeth Jane's wedding to Farfrae, Michael finally comes back and seeks forgiveness, but she doesn't agree and asks him to leave. Later regretting her coldness, she and Farfrae set out to find him, and they arrive too late and learn that he has died alone. They also find his last written statement which reads that his dying wish is to be forgotten. So that's the end and I had mentioned in the beginning that it was criticized for having too many incidents which I feel at some point is right because I think one or two incidents, one or two, you know, two is at the right place. They keep you glued but every now and then you just keep, you know, making some changes, some surprises. It's such a typical race movie, that kind of plot is there. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed it.
Section 6: Facts and Quotes
Now I'll just share some facts and quotes with you friends. There was another character Abel Whittle in this work who used to work in Michael's hay-yard but the fact was that this man was always late to work. Hence Michael used to scold him like anything. This also led to a quarrel between Michael and Farfrae over the treatment of Abel Whittle and you must also remember the last lines of this work which read as, happiness was but the occasional episode in a general drama of pain. Last but not the least are the themes explored in this work which are fate, responsibility and redemption.